Peterson was looking at the old man. She remembered the incident and the empty gun. She didn't know how Chen might know that Tatsuda's gun wasn't loaded, but she trusted her partner. She flicked the safety switch on her gun from lethal to stun and fired a round center mass into the old man. Tatsuda jerked and fired his gun at the Queen. Once again, K'oron's shield took the hit and saved her life. By the time Tatsuda realized that his shot had been blocked, Peterson and Chen were cuffing him.
K'oron again became visible as he deactivated his device. Danielle ran over to check on the unconscious ruler of the Commonwealth. She felt for a pulse, and check her breathing.
"She is heavily sedated," Danielle told K'oron, who was now standing beside her. "We need to get her back..." The sound of angry voices distracted them from finishing their conversation.
"Why did you tell me his gun was empty?" Peterson shouted at Chen. "I could have killed the Queen! At the Orion Bar, the perp's gun was unloaded, Tatsuda's was not!"
"How else was I supposed to tell you to take him down without tipping him off?" Chen countered. "Besides, it all turned out okay."
"Excuse me guys," Danielle interrupted the two arguing detectives. They stopped bickering and turned to see Danielle and K'oron, who had the Queen cradled in his arms. "We need to get out of here before that gas wears off and all your people wake up. You've got your man, and we got the Queen. I'd say everything worked out okay."
"We can't let you go," Peterson said taking a step to block their way to the door. "For starters, you're witnesses, or persons-of-interest or something, but I'm sure you'll be needed at the trial. Secondly, we can't let you leave with the Queen."
"It's okay," a weak sounding voice spoke. Queen Constance was starting to regain consciousness. "I appreciate you're want to protect me, whoever you are, but I've known Danielle a long time. I'm in good hands Quite literally, at the moment." She tried to make a joke to lighten the mood.
"Your Majesty, we need to get you medically checked out," Peterson protested. "You've been through an ordeal."
"I will be fine, Danielle and her friend here can take care of any need that I have," the Queen countered. "If they say they we need to go, then let us go. I can make that a royal command if it makes you feel better."
Peterson wanted to say more to try and convince her ruler not to go, but Chen placed a hand on his partner's shoulder.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," Chen ended the debate. "I don't know how long that sedative will last, so you three should probably get moving."
Peterson gave Danielle a hard gaze, then stepped out of the doorway. "Take care of her. Our people need her back on the throne."
Danielle smiled and nodded. "I couldn't agree with you more." She gave a hateful glance to Tatsuda. "Make sure this scumbag never sees the outside of a jail cell."
"Count on it," Peterson replied.
Danielle and K'oron left Peterson and Chen to deal Tatsuda and the other police. They hurried downstairs and found their soldiers starting to wake up from the sedative.
"We don't have long before we are discovered. Let's go people." Danielle said helping a groggy soldier to his feet.
They made it back to K'oron's ship without being noticed, and he put the Queen in the co-pilot seat. Danielle took a position standing directly behind K'oron's chair. They got off the ground soon after, and K'oron piloted the ship back to the dome airlock they had used to enter the city. They had to wait a few minutes for the next large ship to approach the airlock. Again K'oron attached their smaller craft to the larger one, and the rode through the airlock without incident.
"Now, let's get back to the Th'warzin's Wrath," Danielle said.
"Danni, I feel that much has happened in my absence," Queen Constance acknowledged. "How bad have things become with Zhi in charge?"
Danielle smiled at her old friend from the academy. "We have plenty of time to discuss that, Your Majesty. Right now, let's just focus on getting back to the safety of the Dominion."
The Queen laughed. "Now, that is a phrase I never expected to hear."
CHAPTER 18
Danielle and K'oron stepped onto the bridge of the Th'warzin's Wrath and took their seats. They had left Queen Constance in the med bay to have a thorough examination to make certain there were no lasting effects from the sedative that she had been given during her imprisonment in Itsuki Tatsuda's estate. The sent a message to Admiral Hawthorne on board the Poseidon to tell him that the mission had been successful and that the Queen was alive and appeared to be in good health.
Set a course for the Dominion," K'oron instructed. The navigation officer started entering the necessary coordinates.
"Sir," the sensor officer, Lt. Commander Akane Morimoto spoke, "I'm picking up something odd on sensors."
"What do you mean?" Danielle asked Morimoto before K'oron could respond.
"When you and the General first arrived back on board, I picked a sensor anomaly on the far side of the planet. I just picked up the same anomaly again, only this time it was much closer. It had traveled halfway around the planet in our direction. It almost reminds me of a camouflaged drone. Like the types we used to train with."
"Camouflaged drone..." Danielle mumbled to herself. It's the Legion ship!
"K'oron! It's the Legion ship!" She shouted.
"Where?" K'oron asked, walking over to the sensor officer's station. He looked at Morimoto's console. "I do not see anything."
"It's a blip that just comes and goes," Morimoto explained. "It's there one second, and gone the next, but it does seem to be on a heading towards our general vicinity."
"Comms, contact the Poseidon," K'oron ordered. "See if they are picking it up too." The communications officer, Ral'gar nodded.
"That could be No'tok," Danielle said. "We have to find out if it really is the phantom Legion ship. If it is, we need to take it out."
K'oron shook his head. "No, we have your Queen on board. That was our mission, and we have completed it. Now we need to get her to the safety of V'drell Prime before Zhi figures out we have her and comes after us."
"What about that ship?" Danielle argued. "What if it's No'tok on that ship?"
K'oron knew he wasn't going to win the argument. He knew that when it came to No'tok there was no reasoning with her. Now she was outright arguing with him on the bridge in front of the crew. Her obsession was beginning to affect her judgment. His nostrils begin to flare. "Major! Keeping the Queen safe is our mission, not letting you get your vengeance on No'tok. He will have a day of reckoning, but this is not it. We are returning to V'drell Prime immediately. Is that understood?"
"Understood, General," she replied through gritted teeth. The entire bridge had fallen quiet during their argument.
"Uh, General, sir," Ral'gar was the one to break the silence. "The Poseidon says they have not registered any sensor contacts."
"Tell the Poseidon that we are ready to return to the Dominion," K'oron told Ral'gar, but was looking at sternly at Danielle while he said the words.
***
The Nightfury was on course towards its second shipyard target. No'tok was enjoying what he was seeing. His ship was about to decimate the Terran homeworld, and there was nothing the Commonwealth could do about it. Gar'loz had planned the attack of the first shipyard so carefully that according to the intercepted broadcasts they were picking up, the Terran fleet headquarters believed that a malfunction had caused a core breach in one the ships. Let them believe that the destruction of that shipyard was a tragic accident. When we destroy the second one, and they realize their error, it will be too late to call for reinforcements to defend their world.
"Admiral, we are picking up two ships in long range sensors," the tactical officer informed No'tok.
"Can you identify them, Krat'sa?" He inquired.
"One of the ships is a Terran Dreadnaught class warship," she answered.
"That is of no concern," replied the admiral. "We have bested those types before, and can easily do so again. Wha
t of the second ship?"
"It is similar to an Imperial Phar'tor class ship, but yet different," the tactical officer answered.
No'tok suddenly became uncomfortable in his seat. "Put it on the screen now!" He shouted. Krat'sa tapped her console and the unidentified ship appear as a small shape on the forward display.
"Make it bigger! Magnify!" The tactical officer adjusted the magnification, and the unknown ship was now clearly visible.
"I've never seen that type of ship before either," No'tok declared, "but I can assure you that if there is a Dominion ship and a Terran warship in such proximity to each other without fighting, it can only be the work of K'oron and that insufferable little pest Danielle Hart! Set an intercept course for the unidentified ship and the Terran vessel." He turned to face his first officer. "Gar'loz, I'm afraid that the remainder of your attack plan will have to wait."
***
Danielle was still furious over the way K'oron had talked down to her in front of the bridge crew. He just let No'tok get away. He'll regret that. We'll all regret that. After their dispute and his reminding her that he outranked her, she walked off the bridge. She didn't want to look at him right now. She was about to enter her quarters when the ship's emergency klaxon began sounding. Upset or not, she knew that her place was on the bridge. She ran back to the lift that went directly to the bridge. As she stepped in, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She was still mad at K'oron, but she pushed the anger aside for the moment.
When the lift opened, she returned to her seat next to the command chair. The entire bridge was bathed in orange light, the color used by the Dominion instead of red. The front wall display was showing a ship moving directly toward them.
"What happened?" She asked K'oron.
"That sensor anomaly just reappeared and it is a ship," he admitted. "It opened fire on the Poseidon and damaged it severely. Hawthorne has ordered a mandatory evacuation into life pods and the few small scout ships they had on board. Unfortunately, we cannot render aid at the moment, because the same ship is about to open fire on us." As if on cue, the ship on the screen launched a volley of missiles.
"Brace for impact!" K'oron shouted just before the entire bridge shook from the impact of the missiles.
Danielle shouted into the comms link in her chair arm. "I need a damage report, Chief."
"We've taken heavy damage to decks four, five, and six," the Chief Engineer answered over the speaker. "Shields are holding, but only at twenty percent effectiveness now. One small hull breach on deck five. I've already sent a crew to patch it up. We can't take another hit like that without have major hull breaches. It could destroy us."
"Understood, Chief," Danielle ended the link.
"Return fire?" She asked K'oron. He nodded. "Weapons, bring up everything we got and start firing at that thing! I need those shots to count, Graz'mak!"
Weapons officer Graz'mak began activating every available weapons system and setting the on auto-fire mode. There was a steady barrage of pulse blasts erupting from the forward cannons of the ship.
"Shots seem to have no effect!" Graz'mak shouted. Their shields are just deflecting everything!"
The enemy ship realized that their weapons were not a threat and began moving in closer for a kill shot.
"General, we've got an incoming message!" Comms officer Morimoto told K'oron. "It's from the attacking ship!"
"Put it up," K'oron replied. The front display switched from the view of the attacking ship to the round face of a familiar adversary.
"Hello, K'oron," No'tok smiled. "Wonderful ship you have there. Are all of its features as inadequate as its weapons and shields, or did the Emperor just go cheap on those parts?" The former Dominion commander laughed. "I have imagined so many times how good this moment would feel, and the reality of it is better than I ever could have thought possible. The great K'oron, esteemed leader of the V'drellz Stragizi, helpless before me." Then he focused on Danielle. "I see you have your little Terran pet with you too. How nice. Did she ever tell you about all the wonderful experiences that we had on the Perseverance before you showed up?" No'tok watched as the anger began to build in K'oron's face. "No? That is too bad. I'm sure that you would have liked to have experienced those things with her too. Of course, you being who you are, I am certain that you never did, and now you will never get the chance. Would you like me to tell you about it? I started by cutting pieces of her clothing off, just enough to expose..."
"Kill the signal! Kill it now!" K'oron screamed. His eyes flashing with a hatred that Danielle had never seen before in any living being. The screen returned to the image of No'tok's ship
"K'oron..." Danielle tried to speak but stopped. The fire in his eyes told her that he did not want to talk.
No'tok was moving his ship up close for the kill, and all they could do was wait for it. Danielle felt nauseous. After all this, all that I have been through, he is going to win.
***
Admiral Dale Hawthorne stood on the bridge of his almost destroyed ship. The ship's weapons and shields were offline. Over half of the decks had hull breaches and were in various states of decompression. The engine was working at half power, and the comms system was partially functional.
They tried to send a signal to the Th'warzin's Wrath to tell K'oron and Danielle about their evacuation, but that part of the system had been damaged. They were able to receive a signal and had opened the channel when they picked up an incoming transmission. Hawthorne had hoped it was K'oron, but instead, he was seeing No'tok's face. The signal he was picking up was meant for K'oron, but somehow the damaged equipment had intercepted it. Now the voice of that evil man was all that could be heard on the bridge.
Life support had also failed, and the remaining oxygen in the ship wouldn't last long, especially with hull breaches letting it vent out. He had given the order to evacuate, and according to the ship's computer, everyone was off the ship now but him and Lucas Svenson, who was standing beside him.
"It's time to go, Lucas," Hawthorne told his friend and first officer. "We've got two life pods left," he said, pointing to the back wall of the bridge where the bridge officer life pods were stored. "Get in, and I'll be right behind you."
Svenson stepped into his pod and fastened the harness. "It's been a pleasure serving with you on this ship, Admiral. See you when we get picked up."
Hawthorne smiled. "Same here." He lowered the pod's hatch into place and locked it.
Svenson heard to lock bolt drop into place. He gave his friend a puzzled look. "Dale, what are you doing? Why did you lock the pod?"
"My Connie is on the other ship, and that vile creature intends on destroying it," Hawthorne replied. "I can't let that happen, and I can't let you try to stop me." He tapped the panel beside the pod, and the blast shield slid down into place. He could still hear Svenson begging him not to do something foolish when the pod's ejection system activated. "I'm sorry Lucas."
Hawthorne walked over to the holo-core. "ALICE, are you still there?"
The holographic face of a woman flickered in and out. "I am here, Admir...mir..al. How can I as..assist you?" The holo-core was failing along with every other system.
"I need you to record a message for me," Hawthorne instructed the computerized face.
"Re..re..recording," ALICE informed him.
He took a breath. "Felicia, my darling, I know that the media is probably saying terrible things about me by now. That I am a traitor, and that I am fighting with the enemy. Those are lies. I am fighting for Connie, our Connie, that we raised as our own child after Johnathan and Kaori died. Zhang Zhi is a monster and is working with other monsters to take over not just the Commonwealth, but the entire universe as we know it. I am with a group that managed to rescue Connie from his clutches, but other members of his group are trying to stop us and kill her. I can't let that happen. I'm so sorry baby, that I won't be coming home. I love you more than you could ever imagine and I have been so very blessed by the Creator to have ca
lled you my wife for all these years. I'm sorry I never got to take you to the Antilles system like you wanted. You and Connie go, and I'll be there in spirit. I love you. Never forget that." He wiped the tears from his eyes. "End recording, and transmit to Felicia Hawthorne on Mars."
"Tr..tr..tr..ansmit..mit..mitting..." ALICE stuttered. "Message...sent..."
"ALICE, time to impact with the enemy ship at maximum available power?" Hawthorne inquired.
"Thirty-fi..five sec..sec..onds," the computerized voice answered.
"Set course for impact, maximum speed, and set the self-destruct sequence for thirty-three seconds," Hawthorne gave his final order.
"Or..order.. con..con..fir..fir. firmed... G..G..Good..b..b..b..bye, Ad..ad..ad..mir..mir..al," ALICE replied, then the holo-core went dark.
***
Danielle watched the forward display, waiting to see the Legion ship finish them off. If No'tok was on board, he was taking his time, it seemed. Letting them anticipate the shot that would destroy them. The Th'warzin's Wrath was using every weapon on board to try and damage the ship, but No'tok's shields just dissipated every blast.
In the corner of the display, she saw something that took her attention away from the enemy ship looming in the foreground. The Poseidon is moving! I thought they evacuated. Not only was the Poseidon moving but it was picking up speed and headed directly for the aft section of Legion ship. They are going to try a rear assault!
"Hawthorne got his ship moving somehow!" Danielle shouted pointing at the image on the screen. "They're going to attack from the rear! Maybe the Legion ship has a weak point at the rear like Commonwealth ships do."
K'oron studied the screen. "No, the Poseidon is still increasing speed. It would be impossible to target correctly at that velocity. A distraction technique, perhaps?"
"Sir, I believe I know what is happening," Morimoto volunteered with a frighten look, "but I hope I'm wrong."
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